Two step flow

The theory of two step flow was developed by a man called Paul Lazarsfeld and his specialist team of researchers. They analysed the role that media products such as radio broadcasts and newspaper articles and how they influenced voters during American presidential elections. In their research, they discovered that the greatest influence came through individuals that were considered opinion leaders. The masses of audience would view these people as being aware and up to date in terms of what was happening around the world and whose ideas, beliefs and actions are trusted to be honest and true, alongside matching the interests and opinions of the audience themselves.

An example that can relate to the two step flow would be the whole fiasco of Fyre Festival. A man named Billy McFarland was responsible for the whole event and ended up promising thousands of people around the world, including celebrities like Bella Hadid and Kendall Jenner, the opportunity to attend one of the best music festivals ever, experiencing first class treatment in luxury villas and taking part in activities such as jet skiing and relaxing massages. In actual fact, McFarland was scamming everyone due to an island relocation, which meant that there was no time for new villas to be built, however McFarland refused to cancel the festival and continued to sell this fraudulent lie and take in the millions that people were paying him for “the experience of a lifetime”. McFarland acted as an opinion leader in this case, as he promoted Fyre Festival in a way that enticed people and made them take an interest. He promoted it using a luxurious add, which appealed to people who wanted a taste of first class and of luxury. McFarland essentially gave these thousands of people false hope by promising them all of these amazing activities and experiences, when in actual fact, it was falling apart and was all just a lie. When promoting the festival on Norman’s Cay, an island they had come across for the festival, they hired supermodels to help shoot a promotional advertisement video after McFarland leased the island from the owners, with the promise not to mention that the island was once connected to Pablo Escobar, a famous drug lord. This would relate to how the festival would be promoted, as not as many people would want to sign up for it and go to an island which was once home to a well-known criminal, so McFarland used two step flow and acted as an opinion leader, shaping the audience’s opinion, with people trusting both him and the festival to be honest and truthful, however McFarland lied about details from the start and the festival slowly turned into a lie and basically a farce. However, when the advertisement was released, McFarland had detailed that the island was once owned by Pablo Escobar, which caused the owners to terminate the lease and the deal due to McFarland breaking one of the terms and conditions that they had agreed on. McFarland had in fact told a lie to people in the advertisement, as Escobar had never owned Norman’s Cay. Even after they had been kicked off Norman’s Cay, the festival site continued to promote the festival, with pictures being shown on that island, when in actual fact, it was touch-and-go as to whether the festival would go ahead or not, but McFarland remained determined for the festival to carry on, not letting audiences or anyone aware of the island change, with audiences still believing that they were paying millions for a lifetime experience on Norman’s Cay, which had been promoted and sold to them. In turn, thousands of people were fooled by McFarland’s claims about Fyre Festival as they had put their faith in him as an opinion leader and believed that what he was selling them was honest and true, being in line with the interests of the audience, but in actual fact, McFarland didn’t want to fail and cancel the festival, regardless of the fact that it was going to be a complete disaster and they weren’t prepared at all. Fyre Festival also used two step flow in the sense that social media influencers, such as Bella Hadid and Kendall Jenner, were used to promote the product and act as opinion leaders to draw in new, different audiences and drum up cliental for the festival, making people spend more money, investing and buying into it more as a result, due to audiences viewing these social media figures as being honest and truthful, as if they are attending the festival and investing time, money and resources into it, then it must be real and they must go to it, but the likes of social media influencers, who help spread the word and get the message out there, were also taken for a ride and believed that the festival was what was advertised and didn’t known what they were signing up for or paying their millions into- all for nothing.

Also relating to the idea of two step flow is Kony 2012. This was an American documentary film that was released with the intention of making Ugandan cult leader and war criminal, Joseph Kony globally known, so he could be arrested and prosecuted for his crimes by the end of 2012. This idea relates to two step flow, as when the campaign was initially launched, it was supported by several different celebrities, who soon managed to spread the word and pass on the message and product to their own individual audiences, causing the campaign to go viral around the globe. Celebrities who supported the campaign and helped get it out there included Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney, Taylor Swift, Angelina Jolie and former U.S. president, George W. Bush. A handful of celebrities also endorsed the campaign against Joseph Kony, including Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj, Kim Kardashian and Rihanna. By Kony 2012 going global due to the use of two step flow from celebrities (who acted as opinion leaders to influence audiences and spread the word), it generated both positive and negative reactions. Positive reviews mainly centred around the opinion that raising awareness of what Kony had done and how he should be brought to justice for his crimes as a war lord and cult leader was much needed to get the ball rolling and make the world open their eyes to what type of people were out there and in this case, people like Kony. However, the campaign has also received negative views and backlashes for certain elements of it. One in particular is “slacktivism”, which the company that produced the film, Invisible Children, has come under criticism for, with it being believed that they oversimplified the events. The campaign is meant to promote global activism, however it has been said to have just produced a black-and-white picture, rather than encouraging viewers and audiences to learn about the situation, so in turn this links to not only two step flow, but also the hypodermic needle theory, since audiences are not engaging properly or reading into the campaign, they are just being fed knowledge about it and know the general facts. The film and campaign have also been criticised as being naïve, with the belief that it has “elevated him to be a global celebrity and the embodiment of evil” and in fact, could help him as a terrorist and cult leader.